SIMs of Nepal firms active in border areas 
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 21
More than 6,000 mobile SIMs (subscriber identity modules), which have been issued to subscribers in Nepal, have become active inside the Indian territory close to India-Nepal border in Pithoragarh district and the mobile phones with these SIMs cannot be put on surveillance as there is no trackers available with the Indian security forces guarding the border.

The trackers are the equipment used for tracing the exact location of a caller. Mobile service providers do have these trackers. “We can trace the location of the mobile phones carrying the SIMs issued by companies based in India as they have provided us with the trackers but we don’t have such equipment to trace the SIMs issued in Nepal,” said NA Bharane, SP, Pithoragarh.

According to the police, most of the SIMs are either from the Nepal-based company “Namaste Nepal” or “Sky”. These are active mostly in the Dharchula, Nigalpani, Bakuakote, Jauljibi and Jhoola Ghat areas where no mobile tower has been installed by Indian companies. “Moreover, the areas of Nepal adjoining these Indian border towns are situated at a higher elevation, facilitating signal inside India up to 10 km,” said the SP.

Not only the Nepali citizens working in India own these SIMs but even Indian residents and businessmen living at these border towns also use these SIMs as these is no cell phone service by an Indian company. “Being a businessman, I mostly use the SIMs provided by the Nepal-based mobile company, “Namaste Nepal”, as Indian mobile connectivity is not available in the area,” said Arvind Hyanki, a businessman from Dharchula town operating between the Jauljibi and Garbiyang areas.

“We would soon start checking and noting down the SIM numbers and mobile set numbers active in the border area with the help of the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB),” said Bharane.

“In Jhoolaghat town alone, there are more than 250 mobile sets using SIMs issued by a Nepal-based company,” said Ram Datt Jukaria, a businessman in Jhoolaghat town.

Meanwhile, the residents of Jauljibi town have renewed their demand for a mobile tower in their area. “The presence of Nepali SIMs in such big numbers in these border towns is posing threat to the national security, but we are compelled to use these SIMs as despite repeated demands, the government and the BSNL have failed to install mobile phone service towers in these areas,” said Laxman Dhami, a resident of Jauljibi town.

No cellphone service by Indian companies in the Dharchula, Nigalpani, Bakuakote, Jauljibi and Jhoola Ghat border areas

Police has no equipment to trace the location of these SIMs

Centre to table stronger Lokpal Bill: Minister
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 21
Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Agriculture Harish Rawat said today that the Central Government had reiterated its commitment to table the Jan Lokpal Bill and the Food Security Bill in the winter session of Parliament. “The Parliamentary Committee is working on varied aspects. As soon as it submits its final report, we will ensure the speedy passing of the Bill,” said Rawat.

He further said: “We will table a much more stronger Bill than the present one proposed by Anna Hazare.”

With food inflation touching a record 10.63 per cent this week, the minister said the Centre was trying to control the spiralling prices of foodgrains. The minister further said if the Food Security Bill was passed, 75 per cent of the rural areas and 25 per cent of the urban areas would be provided 7 kg of free ration. The final modalities were being chalked out, he added.

Regarding the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences being constructed in Rishikesh, Rawat said the work was going on at a fast pace. He said after the coming up of the specialised medical institution in the region, people of Uttarakhand, UP and HP would be benefited. — TNS

Irregularities in Pauri engg college appointments
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 21
Gross irregularities and open manipulation in appointment continue to dog the functioning of the Ghurdorhi (Pauri)-based GB Pant Engineering College, which is an autonomous institute of the Uttarakhand Government.

The irregularities committed by the college authorities have gone unnoticed by the government with Technical Education Minister Trivender Singh denying any knowledge of the irregularities.

The college authorities are not only believed to have fixed appointments but also changed the character of the number of posts sanctioned by the government.

In December, 2010, the college had advertised the posts of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor (regular positions) in the departments of electrical and electronic engineering, computer science and engineering, mechanical engineering, applied sciences and humanities (mathematics/physics/
chemistry/management/economics), civil engineering and biotechnology.

Sources in the college claim the advertisement inserted in the newspapers for appointing Assistant Professors and Associate Professors failed to clearly give the break up of the number of posts advertised for different subjects under applied sciences and humanities.

The candidates were interviewed separately for the posts relating to the subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry, management and economics in the department of applied sciences and humanities. The appointments have only been made in the subject of management against two posts of Assistant Professor.

It is believed that to adjust certain individuals, the procedure of appointment was manipulated to such an extent that against one sanctioned post (as set up by the government) of teaching faculty position in management, two appointments have been made.

Further, the college management has appointed the Assistant Professor (Management) in 2009 and as such there was no backlog in the teaching faculty. Yet two appointments have been made.

Similarly in 2010, an Assistant Professor is believed to have been a recipient of two out-of-turn promotions and made Professor in a span of nine months when it takes a minimum of 15 years for the promotion.

Besides, against all the state and central government norms, since 1990 no backlog positions reserved for the SC and ST candidates have been filled in the college.

While there is a surfeit of teachers to teach management, no effort has been made to appoint an Assistant Professor to teach environment sciences when there is a provision of one sanctioned post.

The Principal of the college, Dr Anurag Swamy, denied having played any role in the appointments as the interviews were conducted before he took over as Principal.

The college management had appointed an Assistant Professor (Management) in 2009 and as such there was no vacancy backlog in the teaching faculty. Yet two appointments have been made.

In 2010, an Assistant Professor was made Professor in a span of nine months when it takes a minimum of 15 years for such a promotion

Since 1990, no backlog posts reserved for SC and ST candidates have been filled

No effort has been made to appoint an Assistant Professor to teach environment sciences 

All set for Nepalese PM’s visit tomorrow
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 21
With Prime Minister of Nepal Babu Ram Bhattarai slated to visit Haridwar on October 23, the district administration has started preparing for the high-profile four-day visit to Uttarakhand.

Inspector-General of Nepal Police Kalyan Kumar, who has been here for the past two days in Haridwar, is chalking out the itinerary, security and road map through which the cavalcade of the Nepalese Prime Minister will pass through.

He himself undertook an inspection tour of the entire route through which the Prime Minister and his delegation will pass through and has given some security inputs at Sidcul-situated Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) and Hero Honda units, where Bhattarai is scheduled to visit.

A high-level meeting of the district police was held today in view of the security arrangements. The emphasis was laid on ensuring the timely movement of the cavalcade of the Nepal Prime Minister, intense checking and round-the-clock coordination among the administration, the police and traffic officials.

Briefing police personnel, Deputy Inspector-General of the Garhwal range Sanjay Gunjiyal said no laxity on the part of the police personnel should take place and the coordination between Indian and Nepalese police was being made so that no confusion arose.

SSP Haridwar Pushkar Sailal along with SP City Yogendra Singh Rawat also inspected the Sidcul-situated industrial area.

ONGC contract staff stage dharna
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 21
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s Contractual Employees’ Union members today staged a dharna outside Labour Commissioner’s office in Dehradun.

Led by Ramesh Nautiyal, joint secretary of the ONGC Contractual Employees Union alleged that their long-pending issues had still not been addressed by the ONGC administration. Addressing a gathering, Ramesh Nautiyal held that Bharat Vikas Company, who has deployed the contractual workers in the ONGC, was least adhering to labour laws and accused the ONGC administration of being a mute spectator to these blatant violations of labour laws.

Nautiyal said the allowances assured by the company to the contractual employees were not being given to them.

He said the contractual staff were not even informed about the money deposited with the Employee Provident Fund Organisation.

Anil Kumar, general secretary, of the union also addressed the protesters. 

Manvender Singh is IMA Commandant
Our Correspondent

Dehradun, October 21
Major-Gen Manvender Singh has taken over as the Commandant, Indian Military Academy (IMA), here today. He was commissioned into the 14 Guards on December 22, 1974.

The General has held various prestigious command and instructional appointments. He was an Instructor in Infantry School, Mhow, the Indian Military Training Team (Bhutan) and Army War College. He commanded an Infantry Brigade and a Mountain Division in high altitude.

The General has served in the “Operation Rakshak” and “Operation Vijay” and was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal, in the year 2008 while commanding an Infantry Brigade in high altitude. He was awarded Ati Vishist Seva Medal in 2010 in the Eastern Sector while commanding a Mountain Division.

He is an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College,(RIMC), Dehradun, and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He passed out from IMA in December 1974 and was honoured with the Sword of Honour, which is awarded to 
the best all-round Gentleman Cadet from the regular course.

He was General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, before assuming the present posting.

Police Commemoration Day 
Homage paid to martyrs
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 21
Twelve personnel of the Uttarakhand police who laid down their lives in the line of duty were paid homage by Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, senior police officers and other dignitaries on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day at the Police Lines here this morning.

The 12 policemen who were paid tributes are head Constable Jagat Ram (Haridwar), Constable Subhash Chander (Nainital), Constable Pankaj Singh (Champawat), Constable Anil Tomar (Tehri), Constable Navneet Khanduri (Dehradun), Constable Ajab Singh (Dehradun), Constable Arun Kumar (Rudrapryag), Constable Mayank Dandriyal (Udham Singh Nagar), Constable Diwan Singh (Dehradun), Constable Rajiv Kumar (Dehradun), Constable Lokesh Kumar (Uttarakashi) and driver Nar Singh Dhoni (Champawat).

The Chief Minister said he would provide all possible assistance for the welfare of the policemen. He said a total of 637 personnel of the paramilitary forces and the police force attained martyrdom in the line of duty in India this year. He said 12 brave men of the Uttarakhand police laid down their lives in the line of duty. He said their sacrifice was a source of inspiration for all of us.

The greatest challenge before the internal security agencies of the country is in the form of Naxalism and terrorism. A large number of police personnel have attained martyrdom while combating Naxalites. There is no country in the world that can truly consider itself aloof from the threat of terrorism, he added.

Earlier, the Chief Minister set up a Martyr Memorial Book at the memorial.

Those who also laid wreaths at the memorial included Lokayukta Justice MM Ghildiyal, Sports Minister Khajan Das, MLA Ganesh Joshi, Pranav Singh, Principal Secretary (Home) Utpal Kumar Singh, former DGP Brijendra Nailwal, DGP (Prosecution) Alok Bihari Lal, DGP Technical Services Vijay Raghav Pant, ADGP SK Bhagat and IGP Anil K Raturi. 

Election Commission takes note of media reports on Assembly poll
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 21
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken a serious note of the reports appearing in the media with regards to timing, phasing and security aspects of the coming Assembly poll, including those in Uttarakhand. In the next few months the Assembly poll are scheduled to be held in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

A spokesperson for the ECI has stated: “There are wild suggestions in the reports with reference to the dates, duration and phasing of the elections in these states. References have also been made to Commission’s so-called ‘thinking’ in the matter and imaginary inferences have been drawn from such assumptions of ‘thinking’. Name of particular months have been mentioned and deliberations in the Commission regarding clubbing or otherwise of the poll have been talked about. Such speculation has also been made across Uttarakhand.

“Some reports have gone on to conjecture on the level of deployment and movement of the Central forces in these states. The Commission is amused by a reference made in a news report about its ‘recent’ meeting with Union Home Secretary and other senior officials ‘few days ago’, whereas the fact is that no such meeting was held. A meeting was held with these officials as early as about one and half months ago.” The Commission has clarified that there has not been any consideration or “thinking” as yet regarding timing of the poll in the states where the elections are due in a few months. It has termed the reports and references as completely ‘baseless and misleading’.

Pointing out that the elections to the legislative Assemblies are of course due in the five states in 2012, the ECI has asserted that it is engaged in its usual preparatory activities for quite some time in respect of these elections. This has included one round of visit to these states in August 2011. The preparedness aspects are being followed up through normal official channels and through discussion with the stakeholders.

The spokesperson said the ECI proposed another round of visit to these states in the first half of November. The Commission is engaged in the monitoring of summary revision of the electoral rolls in all the states and union territories, including a systematic campaign for enrolment of newly eligible youth. A vigorous programme of training for election officials is also under way.

It has underlined that all concerned need to appreciate that in a country like India, elections are almost around-the-year exercise and continuous preparedness and preparatory activities are an essential part of election management. However, incorrect projection or misrepresentation on crucial aspects like timing, phasing and security is likely to cause avoidable damage.

Sangeet Pratibha 
A feast for the soul on Day 2
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 21
The second day of the ongoing “Sangeet Pratibha - a Festival of Young Musicians” once again saw some exhilarating performances by young artistes from North India who have taken to classical music.

With the audience swelling in comparion to the first day of the festival organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi with the help of local cultural group Yugmanch, it can easily be said there are many takers for the classical art forms even among the common masses, provided they are given proper exposure to these arts.

The evening began with a sitar recital by well- acclaimed artiste Salim Kumar who has been trained by the likes of Ravinder Dev Tailang, Nurullah Khan and Shahid Parvez of the Etahwa Gharana. He was accompanied by Kuldeep Mishra on tabla.

They came up with a performance on Raag Kirwani in Jag Taal and Teen Taal. The performance set the mood and pace for the evening.

The audience, which included a large number of school and college students, thoroughly enjoyed his performance.

This was followed by a vocal performance in Hindustani music by Suchit Narag of Dehradun. He was accompanied by Jai Shankar Mishra on tabla and Raj Kumar Bharti on violin. He started with a rendition in Raag Multani with the Bandish being in Teen Taal Madhyam and then Ek Taal Dhrut.

The audience sat glued with eyes wide open as he sang “Nisdin tumhro dhyan dharat hun” and “Nayanan mein aan vaan kaun si pari”.

This had the audience asking for more and he did not disappoint. Narang came out with a beautiful rendition of a bhajan “Mat jaa jogi re.…”

Like the previous evening, the performance on Thursday too ended with a scintillating performance, this time by the duo of Hari Dutt Sharma and Diwakar Sharma. While the former came out with a breathtaking flute recital, the latter gave him accompaniment on tabla.

The duo began with a rendition in Raag Hamsadhwani taking the on a soulful journey. It appeared that the listeners had been transported to a different land. There were many sitting with their eyes moist.

The duo from the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh completed the performance with the presentation of Holi. There was a pin drop silence when the two were performing. This silence was broken in the midst only with clapping.

Following the performance some tourists rushed to meet the artistes back stage. A woman related,” I was with my husband shopping nearby. We have come from Karnataka. Hearing the flute, we could not stop ourselves and rushed here after dropping everything.”

Diwali gift for power dept employees
Tribune News Service

Dehradun October 21
The sixth bi-annual convention of the Uttaranchal Power Employees Association was held at Roorkie today where employees were assured of the benefit of the equal work, equal pay on the Diwali eve. The assurance came from Managing Director, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), AK Jain and Director, Human Resource, UPCL, Sharad Krishan.

Jain said they were taking the help of self-help groups to work out the provision of equal work, equal pay to facilitate the regular appointment of employees. He said it was difficult to get work done without regular employees in the corporation.

Inaugurating the convention, Chakradhar Prasad Singh, general secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyut Kamgaar Mahasangh, said it was pity that daily wage earners were made to slog for as long as 12 hours on a pittance. He said the abolition of the Vidyut Parishad had only led to losses, including line losses. Therefore, it must be reinstated.

National secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Trade Union Congress, S Rana said the union was starting a “Jain Bharo” movement on November 8 throughout the country on various issues pertaining to the welfare of the labour class.